Lawmakers on Monday accused the New Taipei District Court of attempting to cover up an incident in which a staff member allegedly installed a hidden camera inside women’s restrooms.
Reform is urgently needed to prevent secret filming of women at judicial agencies and court buildings, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) and Lin Yueh-chin (林月琴) said.
Although the alleged perpetrator, a junior clerk working at the summary court of the New Taipei District Court, faces prosecution after the allegations came to light last month, Lin Shu-fen said a whistle-blower had sent her information alleging a cover-up.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
She quoted the source as saying that the filming began early last year, involving secret cameras in five places in the building.
“This is a serious case, as it had gone on for more than a year, also because that building also has courts for the Juvenile and Family Court... So, a proper investigation is needed,” she said.
New Taipei City judiciary officials were complicit in hushing up the crime, because when the case was discovered last month, they did not collect evidence or check if the alleged perpetrator had stored video files in a computer or a mobile phone, she said.
The alleged perpetrator, surnamed Lo (駱), was a junior clerk who had held the job for more than 10 years, she said.
“The judiciary officials did not carry out a search, giving excuses such as the clerk’s residence being too messy,” she said. “So, the whistle-blower accused them of a cover-up, as the perpetrator had time to destroy the evidence, to delete the videos from his computer.”
Not conducting a proper investigation is inexcusable, Lin Yueh-ching said, as she demanded a thorough probe.
“It should be clarified if any of the victims is a minor. Also, please keep in mind that the secret filming went on for more than a year, so it was a planned act,” she said.
“Questions must be raised,” she said. “Did the perpetrator make money from these videos? Did the perpetrator sell them on the dark Web to make even more money? Prosecutors must find out.”
“It is quite unbelievable that this [secret filming] can happen at a court building, which is meant to serve justice,” she said.
“In the past, most such crimes occurred at private properties, but over the past few years, increasingly more of them have happened at schools and other government buildings, which shows that the government should implement more stringent measures on prevention, and new detection devices and electronic sweeps should be used in washrooms, so that people can feel safe using these facilities,” she said.
Judiciary officials have been negligent and not serious in combating secret filming in their workplace, as over the past few years there have been cases of police officers, court clerks and security guards allegedly installing secret cameras inside judicial buildings, Lin Shu-fen said.
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